Managing Pain

looking for someone I can relate to in pain

Fairygirl2009:Hi Everyone, after leaving my name on several screens with no replies ( that I could find anyway) I decided to try and make contact with someone this way. I suffer from a multitude of problems that all began with a neck surgery (gone bad) that left me with severe nerve damage to neck & shoulders and have cont. to my arms and hands.That was 15 yrs ago. I developed chronic shngles after that. By chronic I mean that I breakout at least once a month and have even had shingles to break out over existing shingles. They wanted to send me to a teaching med college here in Tn saying that I was "textbook" but I refused to go after years of painful treatments that included injections to each shingle-ouch! I take valtrex daily for prevention (Ha) and famvir during breakouts. I also have degenerative disc ,tissue & joint desease, osteoartheritis etc. Needless to say my life has been very difficult from all the pain and in Jan of this year I had to retire to due all the health problems. I just could not go to work anymore. Like Robin (I know there are two of you) I now have no Ins and am trying to get on disability. I have a wonderful pain mng. Dr, thank God, but prior to finding him I ran the gauntlet of so many dr's I can"t even remember their names and many of them I don't care to. I have so much anger still from the way I was treated by the med comm in general and know that everyone in chronic pain knows exactly what I'm talking about. I use to BEG for any kind of pain relief and suffered so much for no reason. I came to this cite because I want so much to make friends with people who have been thru the same things I have and understand what it is to live with pain everyday of your life while trying to HAVE some kind of life.I hope someone will answer me. Dale

My name is TJ, I've been going through the seen,you need to go see this dr,then that doctor look's at you and tell's you you've got to see this doctor,oh and that doctor will bill you just for telling you you've got to see another doctor, it's one big roller coaster ride so hold on tight,it took me year's to find a doctor that would listen to me and beleave what I was saying to him,I posted my story not to long ago it's under xtruck2,I went from driving a truck with good pay, on my own,in a different state every other day,too not being able to get out of bed unless I had my pain med's or make it through the day for that matter,

just to make it through the day I need to take 40mg of methadone four time's a day along with 1 or two tablet's of morphine 30mg, and that's just to make it through the day then come's the night,see I had a car accident in 1983,it took them over a hour to cut me out of the car, now the night mare's are so bad some night's I wake up in a cold sweat,and my pillow soaken wet,it take's seven different med's for me to just be able to face the next day&night,

so dale your not alone in this world of our's I hope this can make feel a little better I'll be thinking of you and hey it can't get any worse can it?? well maybe but we wont think of that!!!! right

ok I'll be around unless I've got a doctor's apptment!!! that's about the it for now talk with you later TJ

I live with chronic pain from periferal neurapathy....probably not in as much pain as you but I still get down....Have you ever given thought to going to a pain clinic or a physician that specializes in pain control?....They understand and don't blink an eye to give you meds that will help...I wish you well....kat

I've been suffering from CP for a relatively short period of time, 4.5 years, but can totally relate to being sent here and there, going to dozens of doctors, just trying to find one, just one, that will help even a little bit. At the very beginning, I thought I had gotten lucky and that I had a fantastic doctor. There are no words to say how wrong I was. I'm in this situation now because I was wrong. Like you, a spinal surgery has put me here. Well, two actually. This doc was supposed to be the best in the area. He'd been treating me since I had my first herniation nearly 9 years ago, so I trusted him. He put me in the hospital when my pain first started, did an MRI, found two herniations, and before I knew it, I was going in for my first surgery. Then, after spending 3 months practically in bed recovering, my pain was just getting worse and it was most definately worse than before the surgery. So, another MRI, and, gee, I had reherniated one of the two bad disks that he had just operated on. And here's where I made the biggest mistake of my life: I let him do another major surgery without going to get a second opinion. I thought I could trust him, and continued to do so until about 3 months after my second surgery. My pain had continued and had continued to get worse, so I went back to him, another MRI, but this time, the results were different. There were no herniations. Nothing looked wrong on the MRI. Now, you'd think that this doc would do some more and some different tests. Nope. The only thing he did was to break me into pieces by saying one sentence, "Well, I can't see anything wrong on the films, so the pain you're having must be all in your head, so here's the name of a great psychiatrist I know who can help you." That was the last time I saw him.

After that, I went to something like 12 different doctors. Each one told me that my only option would be a fusion, but I refused. I knew that a fusion would just put me in a worse position when 5 years later, when I herniate the disks above. I finally found a doctor who was recommended to me by a family friend. He was the first doc to agree with me. And, after he looked at all of my information, sent me to a colleague. That gave him tons of points with me. Any doctor who cares more about a patient's care than the money they could make off of that patient. I knew he wasn't going to make a cent off of my care if he sent me to someone else. And he didn't. This other doctor was another golden one. He's still my primary spinal doctor. He performed a discogram, and while it was beyond excruciating, it was really helpful in determining our next step. He performed an IDET, and it worked for 6 months. I was working off of all of my meds, getting back to my life, and was just so happy to have it all be over and done with. Then, over the period of one week, my pain returned, and just kept getting worse. Now, there's nothing anyone can do. I will be in pain for the rest of my life. There's no question about that. The only thing that can reduce that pain is an ADR or Artificial Disk Replacement. There's no real term for my current 'condition.' Basically, the two bad disks don't really exist anymore, and what was there, I herniated last year. The disk height is gone, and it can be traced back to those two surgeries I should never of had.

Here's one caveat: I'm currently 25. This started about 3 months after I turned 21. The reason I had to go to so many doctors, or at least one of them, is that no one could tell me how I did this originally. No one knows to this day. I had fallen, but nearly a year before this started, and busted up my tailbone. At the time, it didn't cause me any pain besides my tailbone, which was solved with a single epidural. The only thing I had done in the 2 or 3 months before my pain first started was to get a new puppy. I had him in my arms for nearly a week, with him squirming and me bending over to pick him up or put him down, And as that week went on, my pain got worse and worse. Some of the doctors said it had something to do with my two most recent back problems, 1 was the fall when I screwed up my tailbone, and the other was when I was moving out of the dorms at school. I stupidly picked up one of the small box fridges most college students have, straight from the ground while bending at the waist. When I stood up straight, I suddenly felt and heard a pop in my back and then felt the pain. I had fractured my T12 vertebrea. I was actually in the midst of trying to find someone to treat that injury, which was hampered by my age, when this happened.

None of my doctors have ever given me a reason why this happend to me. And I absolutely hate that. I just want to know why. But, I can't focus on that. All I can do is focus on today and focus on making it through. I just achieved something that 4 years ago, i would have told you I never would be able to pull it off. I am proud to say that I graduated from college. It may have taken me 8 years just to get my B.A. but I did it. I finished, and I finished well. My major gpa, which represents the time I spent in school after my back started since I had changed my major the semester I returned to school after my first surgery, was a 3.8 out of 4.0. It equals out to an A- average. There are no words to say how proud I am that I finished it even though I was going through all this pain. But now the hard part starts: At school, if my back went out and I needed to, I could take a semester off without trouble. When working, I know that's not the case. I got fired from my last job because I had to go have my second surgery. So I don't know how I'm going to work that out with an employer. I'm a journalist, so I could work on a freelance basis, but that doesn't give me health insurance, which would be a major crisis, since I can't get mine through my parents anymore without paying an arm and 2 legs, since we're already paying an arm and a leg.

I consider myself very lucky. This can't kill me. I know a girl who is 22 and is currently dying from cancer. She went into remission 3 times and 3 times it has come back. Now there's nothing they can do for her except watch her die and try to keep her comfortable. Also, I have parents who have supported me throughout. They've been supporting me financially for the past 4.5 years. They pay for everything and even give me spending money. I had to have a car to drive the hour to school every day, so they paid for that and the insurance. I live in their house, but they gave me the option of getting an apartment down at school if it would help, and that would be a substantial amount of money that I know they don't have (that's why I turned it down). And my mom has supported me emotionally through all this, even as her life is falling apart. My father has been here, but hasn't really payed any attention. He's always been somewhat hands-off with both me and my brother. Mom goes to doctors appointments, procedures, anything and everything I ask her to as long as her schedule allows. Luckily, she gets a decent number of vacation and sick days. She's been by my side throughout all of the worst and best times throughout this nightmare. And I know that I wouldn't have made it through without her. The rest of my family doesn't make an effort, so I don't bother with them. One of my aunts, my mom's sister, has fibro so you'd think she'd understand, but she's one of the least understanding of all of them.

I believe that no matter what, I still have hope. You never know, tomorrow could be a good day while today was a bad one. Heck, I could even hypothetically, even though it'd be impossible and beyond a miracle, wake up tomorrow perfectly okay without any pain. I don't have much else, so I hold onto hope with two hands. That's all I can do. I hope that I'll have a life and be able to achieve those things I've always dreamt of. I managed to graduate from college, so I really believe I can do a whole lot. I want to be able to use my writing talents to be able to help promote better understanding about CP and what the truth of it is.

It's hard to find others out there with CP. I know that if I had found some of the support sites I have over the past 2 years before my second or even the first surgery, neither would have happened and I could be okay right now. But, I hold onto the idea that there's a reason I'm in this situation. There's got to be a good reason for me facing 75 more years of this.

Oops, forgot to list my meds: I'm on Opana ER (120mg/12 hours), Dilaudid (24mg as needed), Lyrica (100mg/3 x a day), Flexeril (10mg/ as needed, usually one dose of 3 ), Wellbutrin XL (300mg/24 hours), Restoril (30mg/ at night for sleeping), and Rozerem (8mg/ at night for sleeping). I've been on every single long acting pain medication, with the best results coming from oxycontin and methadone, while the worst was the patch. I know I've gone through all because when I was trying to find a new one, my pain doctor had told me I was out of options besides the Opana, which was only because it was new on the market. I went through a bunch of them because I was trying to determine the cause of my sweating problems. I thought it was the meds, but when I switched 4 or 5 times and it didn't stop, I looked at other things. It turns out it's just my body's physiological reaction to the pain. Just because the pain meds are hypothetically stopping me from feeling the pain doesn't mean that the pain signals aren't being received by my brain, so I still suffer from all of the physiological effects that pain commonly cause, especially the sweating. I figured it out by keeping track of when my sweating is at its worst, which is when my pain takes a very sudden spike. Shopping is the worst. And my pain doc agrees with all this.

I've got a good one now. I was with my original doc from the first day of this until about a year and a half ago. I was going on vacation and had needed an early refill, so I called his office and left a message. He had told me dozens of times that there weren't any early refills, so I thought I had to go through him, not the nurse who did the prescriptions. I left him a message every day for a week straight with no return call. I was leaving in another week, so I started to panic, thinking I was going to have to cut my vacation short because of my meds. Mom had the idea of faxing his office. That way, I'll have a paper record of attempting to contact him if the question should be raised. So along with calling, we faxed each day. The beginning of the week, they were nice, then by the end, they were rude. I finally got an appointment after a cancellation for the last day before we left. Mom came with me to the appointment because she just had to hear what he was going to say about not returning one of our calls or messages. He screamed at me. He called me a drug addict, accused me of using my meds improperly and taking them against the written prescription, told me that I was a 'problem patient,' and that he was going to take my meds away from me. He kept repeating the same things over and over. And he told us that he would never return a phone call, no matter what. He wouldn't even direct the office staff to give my messages to the correct person. And that I had to make an appointment even if I had a small question that only requires a yes or no answer, even though my insurance didn't cover his appointments until I met my out of network deductible (it only really took me 2 or 3 months to meet it most times) when his appointments cost $200 after I met my deductible. By the time I left that appointment, I was sobbing because of what he had said to me, all of the stuff he wrongly accused me of, and all of the crap he was putting me through that I didn't deserve. I couldn't believe he would treat me like that. What was even more telling was that my mom was in tears too. Now that's impressive. I've never seen her get that upset with a doctor before. She doesn't cry in public, ever. She's known for being the calm one in situations. She didn't even cry openly at her father's funeral. She was just so angry that someone would treat me with such disrespect, especially when he was someone who was supposed to help me.

Luckily, I got a great recommendation from someone on another message board and I've been with the recommended doctor ever since. He's over an hour and a half away from my house, but he's a good doc and I wouldn't trade that for a million bucks. Pain management has been one of the things that I have struggled with because of my age. Most docs look at me, a 21 year old kid, and see a drug seeker. So they under-treat my pain because they're so afraid that I was faking it for the meds and terrified the DEA would come and shut them down. It takes a long time to get them to trust me, but my current doc really does I think. I bring my pill bottles to every appointment for a pill count, even though I've never been asked to and he doesn't require that of a patient. I'm more than happy to submit to a drug test. I am willing to do whatever I need to in order to show a doctor that they can trust me, and I think that I had to jump through hoops in order to prove that because I am so young. Most of them don't have patients in my situation at my age. I regularly get the "but you're so young" and "what a shame" looks from docs, especially my spinal surgeon. Everything else about being 25 and going through this is actually positive (especially the idea that in my lifetime, they could come up with some miracle procedure that'll cure me. When I started this, the ADR was a dream and now it's a reality. I can only imagine what they're going to come up with next. And, when they do come up with something new, I'll be a great candidate because I'm so young. The only way it works against me is that any artificial disks or other devices have to last for a long time. I know I'm going to have at least 3 or 4 more surgeries in my lifetime. Nothing lasts forever, but I'll be a great candidate for surgery because I am so young. They'd much rather do some of these new procedures on someone at 30 than someone at 50. So my age does work in my favor with some things).

Okay, I've written a novel here. What can I say, I'm a writer! This is what I do! [:P] Again, if I can do anything, feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to help,

hi dale:i am new here, but, man, i can relate to what you have posted and to many others on here as well. I am in nc and have tried most all of the nearby pain clinics, and I have just found a new one that seems to want to work with me in a more similiar way like i was used to from the care that i received in NY many years ago.i will be praying for you.i will be a friend to you, too. not only does chronic pain effect the body, but also the mind, our families and relationships. my marriage ended after 25 years due to, in part, complications from my chronic pain condition, and messed up surgeries.you can certainly write my email.carol

erin, you are so young....but i understand where you are coming from. i had broken my back at 18yrs. old, and I am now 47. long story what has happened in between all those years, and I will try and tell you later. i was on huge dosages of oxyi in the past plus breakthru pain meds, etc. etc.i had to change pain clinics for various reasons, i am at a new one now, and i am on opana er also, but they have me on a very low dose, cause I am new.do you find this drug last twelve hours? i dont..tell me more about your experience with it, if you dont mind. it is similiar to the oxycontin, and i think in some ways, better. these drugs all do have a deep addictive component to them, based on my experience, but that is just me. maybe others have not experienced this or the craving that they produce. i am curious, though.i too bring my med bottle and will submit to drug testing anytime. the clinic i am at now, requires it.do you still take breakthru meds?let me know and may the Lord bless you and direct you during these times, he has been the only true comfort to me in all my losses.until later,carol

your's is the story of us all, your not alone,nor are you a drug addict,I was in my 30d's when I had an auto accident, it ended a life I was so happy living, I was driveing a truck, got pay"d good and I was outside all over this land of our's, but it came to an end that night,it took them over a hour to cut me out of the car {I was driving home in my own car] I had broken my right femor bone, three toe's on my left foot, three or four rib's and a host of other cut's and thing's,for the month I was in the hospital the first thing they did was set my toe's then a week later they had to put a metal rod in my leg to help it set right,well the doctor mest up and he didn't clean the center of the femor bone out large enough for the rod to fit in properly,so what's he do ..... he hit it in with a hammer no joke so it went in to tight and to far down..

See before they put the rod in my leg they told me,that in 15 month's I was to come back in the hospital and have the rod removed, that's how long the rod was to stay in for, well because I was left with this rod in my leg the truck inseranuce company wouldn't insur me if anything should happen because of the rod in my leg,, there goes my driving carrear,

It wouldn't have lasted anyway the accident was in 83 and in 99 I developed nerve damage in my left leg, the metal rod is in my right leg but I develope nerve damage in my left leg,.,,,, only me, it could only happen to me, you want to talk about pain with the nerve damage in my left leg I would get these shock's in my left leg so bad it was like sticking your finger in a light socket every three to five min's pluse if I tryed to walk on it the left leg would give out at my knee, and I'd fall on my butt, the doctor's finaly did a sympathectomy and let me tell you I would NEVER do it again you want to talk about pain if I had a gun after I woke up in the R.R in the hospital I would have used it, as time went on I was still getting those shock's,not as bad so I asked the doc and he said " well I guess I didn't get all the nerve's coming off your spine to down your leg" and??? that's it go home he was done with me,

Well, you know the story,, I don't have to tell you the rest,but I did fine a doctor who deal's in psychiatric and pain management, He is a god he listen'towhat you say and he beleave's me,I've been seeing him now for 9 or 10 year's and in all that time never once did he say no to me when I'd tell him the methadone wasn't working or the morphine, he never gave me a hard time,

so remember your not in pain because your depressed your depressed because your in pain stay cool god bless you and I hope these word's will help you TJ

one thing I forgot [that happen's A LOT] about the sweating,it's the methadone, I've been on methadone for 8-9 year's now and I sweat so bad I wont go out to bar-b-que's or do anything were people are going to see me sweat like I do..it's so bad in the summer time I'll go through 4-5 t-shrit's a day at night the sweat's are again so bad I'll go through2-3 pillow case's it suck's big time but it goes along with the med's I've been on the road of pill's and methadone seem's to help the most along with morphine for brake through ok that's all bye

what can anyone tell me about this medicine. i would like to hear others opinions on it, as it is new to me. the pharmacist does not have too much to offer me about it, nor does the internet, so your opionions are appreciated.thanks,carol

Hi, I sure can understand the pain and frustration you have went thru, I have bulged discs L-3,4,5 S-1. with tear on the inside, both shoulders are in need of rotator cuffs, both hands had surgery for carpal tunnel, left thumb bone removed due to arthritis, both knees need to be replaced, was born without the cushion under the knee caps, my neck has severe arthritis and is very painful, my back pain hurts 24/7 with radiating pain down the right leg at about the knee. Most of my injuries were from working retail, and then I had a car accident in 2004 where it really messed up my left shoulder, I fell down a flight of stairs about 12 years ago and found out how bad my knees were, the doctor I had, already had one of his knees replaced and told me mine were worse than his, but since I am too young for the replacements I have to suffer. I am getting close to the 50 mark, but now I have no job or benefits to get my self fixed somewhat. Anyway I think I can relate with most of your pain, I thank god everyday for the strong medications that are out there for us to take, as without my medications, life is just not all that great. My husband has a 4 level back fusion with rods, we are what you call the major pain household. Ha-Ha We understand all the frustrations, and the suffering to go along with it. Maybe we can give each other ideas on a few things. I will keep you in my prayers that you have a somewhat pain free day and night. take care chackta

I just stumbled onto this site today and I can sure relate to everyone here. I started suffering lower back pain way back when I was 16 years old after doing a back flip in gym. Dislocated disk. I'm now 51 years old and it's just gotten worse over the years. Now I suffer from degenerative disc disease(inherited), arthritis, there's spurs on my spine and then there's just good old fybromyalgia, which, BTW, I've been insisting to my doctors that I had for about 15 years and finally was diagnosed by a doctor that I had not even mentioned it to just this year. I hate to admit it but I actually cried when I was finally validated.

I fought against my pain for years. I was worse than my doctors in believing that if I ignored the pain, it wasn't really as bad as it was. Finally, about 10 years ago, my body began to scream at me and I, in turn, screamed at my doctor. I couldn't even walk upright anymore and my pain had me in tears. This happened after I was hospitalized for something totally unrelated and was given a spinal tap in the place in my lower back where I told the guy NOT to put the needle. Immediately afterward, I experienced the most excruciating pain in the middle of my back that would not go away.

After months of frustration I finally found a doctor that believed me and prescribed me ocycontin and vicodin for the breakthrough pain. For the first time in my life I found some relief from the pain and really noticed just how much pain I had been suffering all of these years!

Unfortunately, just a few years later, this great guy retired. He began to take a lot of time off and the idiot that was covering for him did not like the fact that I was being prescribed such heavy-duty drugs. I found out years later that he had told my doctor that I had confessed to trying to overdose on my oxycontin! (I had not and would have never told this idiot such a thing because I could never stand him anyway.) I had run out of my prescription while my doctor was out of town and could not get it refilled for a week. I began withdrawals. Let me tell you, it's the worse thing that has ever happened to me. After three days, I finally had my sister call an ambulance. The ER had me stay on the bed, refused to give me anything but a shot for the neasea, I told them exactly what was happening and why and they shipped me out. I was alone because my sister had to stay with my sick father and I couldn't even make a phone call, but no one helped me. They just abandoned me and treated me like crap. It was humiliating and then years later, I found out about the lie that doctor told about me.I found out about it when I filed for disability several years later but my lawyer said it wouldn't do any good to press charges because it was only heresay. Oh yeah, and once again, the DEA was investigating me. Yeah, so what? Who are they to me? Tell them to get lost and go after the real drug dealers in this country. The ones that are killing our kids.

I've spent so many years trying to pretend that I'm fine that no one really believes I'm in as much pain as I am. I was brought up to do what you can about your pain and shut up. It doesn't help me feel any better to whine and complain so why do it? I think that if I could plug these people into me and they could feel my pain, they would be amazed that I am speaking to them at all because they would be curled on the floor screaming in agony.

I don't understand why I am going to a so-called Pain Management Specialist. He keeps lowering my pain meds. I thought the idea of pain management was to find the level at which your pain was at a managable level and keep it there. My doctors always find the level where your pain is at a good level and then start taking the meds away. I just don't get it.

Last October I was given a TENS unit. At that time, I was also taking 50 mg Duregestic patch every 3 days, 3 750 mg Vicodin (really needed 4) per day, Topamax, Lodine one per day (was supposed to take 2 but they put me to sleep). I felt better than I had felt in years. I had just changed pain docs for 2 reasons. 1) to save gas money and 2) the other one has stopped believing me and was in the process of taking me off Vicodin. After a great month being free of pain with the addition of the TENS unit and hoping to go back to work, my Vicodin runs out and I find out the new doctor has totally taken me off the Vicodin and he wants to do shots which I have already told him DO NOT WORK FOR ME ANY LONGER. When I told him this in the office, he kept saying he would work with me.

Well, apparently, he lied. He doesn't care. What do I know? He's the one that went to college for this. It's only my body that I've lived with all of my life. It's just my body that has tried almost every kind of treatment for pain and been through all kinds of painful manipulations known to man and suffered through days and weeks of painful aftermaths from painful tests. What the he** do I know?

After two weeks of shots I'm writhing in pain and I go back to the old doctor. What does he do? He knocks my Vicodin down to 2 500mg a day. Not enough so I beg him to up them. OK....he ups them to 3 500mg a day. I "up" them to 2 750mg a day by taking 1-1/2 a day. While the weather is warm that will be enough--barely--as long as I don't move too much. This winter, it will not be enough. I don't know what I'm going to do then. Probably the same thing I did this last winter. Lay down in my recliner which is also my bed and try to sleep as much as possible to escape the pain. I've learned that my pain doctor tells people that he doesn't believe that there's any reason that I can't work. I would love to get out of this house and work. Maybe tomorrow will be a good day and I can work. Maybe for a few hours. But will I be able to work the next day? I don't know. How can you hold a job like that?

If I go looking for another doctor, that is considered drug seeking behavior by the DEA. They are always investigating people like me, you know. I am looking for relief from my excruciating pain. I am looking for some quality in my life. I'm only 51 and I can't even clean my own house. Some days it hurts to shower for pete's sake. I'm sick of people thinking I'm just fat and lazy. I hate asking for help. I want to do things for myself. All of these people that do the tests and say there's nothing wrong with me need to come home with me for the next 3-5 days afterward and see the pain that I deal with afterward. I want to see their report then. I can look fine for 30-90 min. on any day.

The people that do the tests need to be people that suffer from chronic pain. There should be a pool. When someone feels good enough to come to work, they can come in and work as long as they can and when they can. They are the only ones that understand and they are the only ones that know what to look for. I know that whenever I have gone for those tests, the tester has gone off and then written a report on what I did when they weren't even there to see what I was doing.

hi dale i am 29 yrs old and have very bad back pain i had this problem for 3 yrs. i have 5 disc in my back. i had a spine dr tell me there was nothing wrong with me, well last week i fell playing outside with my son with roller blads. so i had to go to the ER and they told me what was wrong, it just gose to tell you not all drs know what there talking about.they put me on norco for pain but it just dont work.so now i am try to find a new dr and its hard to find a dr that takes public aid . but for now i have to stay in pain because i tryed everything and nothing works.......well talk to you later.

Hi.. Wow?[:'(] I haven?t been in a car accident or had any type of operation that has caused my back pain and my doctor won?t even take me seriously.[8-)]. I have had back pain for as long as I can remember I?m 36 at least since I have been 14..and I would lose sleep over it and it would even hurt just to have anything touching my back. I was constantly moving trying to get rid of the pain but nothing and to make matters worse nothing over the counter worked and I can?t take anything stronger as it gives me the dropping belly feeling and I don?t like that :O( ? I have tried many thing but finally came across something natural that worked for me?. And I took it for over two years.. and then said hey I?m going to stop taking this because I haven?t been having any problems and how could this stuff help me anyway.. Must be all in my head.. Well I stopped taking it that was 6 months ago and ummm.. I?m going back on it was fine at first but each day my pain gets worse and worse to the point now that it?s even affecting my sleep again and my work and my emotions because I?m in pain all the time?. I have placed my order going back on it and looking forward to being pain free once again?

I truly hope that you all find something out there that works for you..

Hi, I have been dealing with hip and low back pain, SI Joint pain now for the past 8 yrs due to an auto accident. I have developed SI Joint pain and arthritis. I also have degenerative disk disease, C5-C6 disk bulge and bone spur, moderate stenosis in that area and T-11 herniated disk,,, and had a coccxyectomy in 2001, talk about a awful surgery!! Its been very hard for me to get comfortable especially at night trying to sleep with my hips and back. I work at a hospital and was referred to a health juice packed with nutrition and helps with inflammation and arthritis. It contains glucosamine and esterfied fatty acids, one to rebuild cartlidge, the other to lubricate your joints. After drinking it for a few weeks, I noticed my low back pain lessened about 85%, I was amazed. Then I noticed my hip pain improved about 90%!! The numbing in my arms at night slowly subsided and I would say my neck pain has improved about 50-60% which is shocking to me. I am only 43 and thought I would live in that pain the rest of my life. Its been depressing. Now I can sleep better too. I have eliminated some of my pain killers and all inflammatory medications. I actually stopped drinking this juice for awhile as I did not understand how this could be what was doing it. Sure enough I stopped and my pain surfaced full blast in the areas I mentioned so I started back up and now I won't quit. If your interested in just trying it send me an email. You have nothing to lose, if anything you will be getting the most antioxidants of any health drink you can find and your 5-9 daily recommended servings of fruit everyday. This product is very new and having huge success especially with athletes with joint, knee, neck and back pain. You feel rejuvenated and have alot more energy! There are other products out there but NONE can compare to this one, what a powerful drink, its about time someone thought of a way to help joint pain, aches, help our cartlidge repair!!! Its not a cure but it HELPS! Its all in the blend. If someone would of not told me then I would of never known and I would like to help others who also suffer from inflammation. If your interested in trying something that could help you immensly please send me a email to mtnview@4dv.net or my site is www.thegreatproduct.com/totalhealth. I just know it worked for me and nothing else has. We can even get together via the telephone if your interested. You won't know unless you try it and again the benefits are numerous. I also have information I can send to you as well as documented studies on Acai. To your Health!!! Brenda

MY I'm feeling what your saying.I don't know what a pain free day is like anymore.I'm now 39 and I've had arthritis since I was 18 I can't even believe it has been that long suffering with pain I think I have tried everything.I believe there is something that will work but the docter's are scared to prescribe pain pills anymore.I've lost the good years of my life with pain so bad that my daughters chose to go live with their fathers because Mom was no fun.That caused alot more pain which added too it.But now I know it;s never going to get better now,only worse as I age.I hope this might help someone or if your in need to talk to someone who understands I am that person.My name is sandy and my username is kittenkat39 and I would to hear from you because you could help me too.(-: Take-Care

Hi Sandy. I know exactly what you are saying. I Have been in pain & have Had health issues since I was 28. The Drs. took 10 years to diagnois fibro. Well my symptems went so far beyond Fibro. that my Neur. told me that I needed a different Dr. Well ater many trips to dif. Drs. I finally was told by 1 idiot that what I needed was a physc. To shorten things a little, my family Dr. Sent me to the Dr. I now Have & love. He has found that all this time I have had Multiple Sclerosis, degenerating spine, Restless Leg Syndrome, & arthritis. In doing an MRI tey found my spine problems along with a bunch of gallstones. My husband is the only person in my entire family that knows & doesn't treat me like I'm a Hypocopndriac! that includesy 4 sons & their mates. Their secret name for me is" Walking Drugstore!!" They can't know that that hurts as bad as the pain I am forced to live with. I am due to have surgery Aug. 3rd & I won't have anyone for me but my husband. I am beyond all the lit. I have given them about what is wrong with me ( that I'm sure they don't read ) I just plain want to give up at times. I won't cause I'll stay here just to show everyone I am still strong in many ways! If I can help you with your endurance with caring & responding, I sure will. My best to you . Misty

I know that it sn't any consolation to you, Dale, and the rest of the people who have responded, but after reading about your conditions I'm feeling like I've been whining to myself about nothing. I wish that I could help you all. At least, I will remember you in my prayers today. Don't give up.

One thing that I will share is that many years ago is that a friend told me that, if we searched hard enough, we could all discover someone who is worse off than we are, but we shouldn't let that stop us from trying to improve our own situation. About five years ago, after 20 years of a variety of problems that resulted in a disability pension, my physician finally thought of a possibility that both he and other doctors had dismissed, ignored, or whatever and one of my medical conditions that had resulted in sleepless nights and almost daily pain was brought under control.

The thing that initiated the relief was that my psychiatrist retired and within two visits my new psychiatrist came to the conclusion that my pain wasn't "all in your (my) head". He took me off mind-numbing anti-depressants and, thankfully, my physican responded by re-evaluating his original diagnosis (which was the same as that of my previous physician and a number of psychologists and psychiatrists).

Physical relief from just one of my conditions has given me new determination to search for answers to some of the others. With that in mind, one of the irritations in my life that isn't pain is an chronic tingling in my left shoulder blade. My previous doctor said that it was due to my gall bladder but even after gall-bladder surgery the irritation is still there. Is there a message board that I could go to (or any other source) to deal with that?

God be with you my friend! I have had chronic pain for so long it's unbelieveable. I will be your pain friend anytime any day good or bad. Let's see where to start - I have Fibromylia, sensory poly neuropathy, L5/S1 degenerative disc back problems, vulvoldynia and the best for last cancer but I have been clean for 3 years now with the cancer.

I totally understand what you are going through and I can relate to every word you said. I must have my pain meds next to me every minute because I panick if I don't. Yes I am addicted but who cares at least I can get out of bed most mornings. The pain covers my entire body and right now I can say I can't remember the last time I was pain free for 1 hour. Sitting here typing this hurts like hell.

I am having real problems trying to get SSI because the government doesn't understand any problems that people have unless you have had your leg cut off or something. If you have success with the SSI please let me know how you did it.

I try to talk to my friends and family about all the pain I have but they get really sick of hearing it all so this site is a god send to me. I want to quit talking about my problems to my family and friends and start talking to people who understand and are willing to listen and care because I am and will listen to it all. Please email me anytime and lets talk.

I was on methadone for over 2 years and the nightmares were so bad that I would be in bad moods all day long because they seemed so real. I couldn't taking it and demanded that I be taken off of it.

I can say that the methadone was the BEST drug in the world for the pain but it made me such a B**** and just completely out of it. I lost a few friends over it and my memory was so bad that I couldn't remember seeing a movie with my 8 year old 1 week before. I just couldn't take it anymore and my doctor got me off of it. Now I am on oxycodone, norco and a couple other pain meds but I must tell you that the nightmares and so much better. I may have one once a week but as soon as I wake up I can get myself out of it.

I just wanted to share that with you because I can so relate to what you said. I hope they get better or you can find some other pain meds.

All I can say is "you go girl". Keep up the faith. All of us need someone like you that will try to put people like us (people with CP) on the map. We need someone that has a college education in journalism to put this out there then maybe just maybe some doctors will put there heads out and get a clue.

I am amazed at all the people on this site that are so confused and don't know where to turn. We need to start some kind of something to make it necessary for doctors to get educated in CP.

I wish you well and will pray for God to give you guidance in your efforts!

I can really relate to everything you wrote. There were so many times when I could say that is me!! Especially when you said that you have spent so much time pretending that you are not in pain when you are around others. That is exactly how I live my life even though at times I feel like I can barely move or I cannot feel my left leg or so on. I have become so used to pretending I am "ok" around everyone else that I am sure they wonder why I am not doing more with my life. IT becomes extemely frustrating to say the least!! It sounds to me that you need to find yourself a new Pain management Dr., someone that you can relate to and speak your mind. This is your life you are talking about!!! I cannot understand how the DEA would think that by looking for a new Dr. you are breaking some law. Isn't there some way you can talk to your insurance company about switching doctors. I really believe only another person that has pain on a daily basis can truly understand what we are experiencing. That is why I do not even talk about it with anyone else because I know they do not "get it". Good luck and hope you are feeling better. Paula[:D]

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